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| Six Millions Years plus 1 Day |
We rousted ourselves a little before sunrise, hopped on Papa, and made it to Mather Point just as the rosy fingers of dawn stretched herself across the sky. We enjoyed the view with a hundred or so of our newest friends. We all strived to capture the grandeur. Some with our amazing smart phones, many with quick snap cameras, and a few with elaborate Nikon equipment. None succeeded. God's grandeur just can't be captured, as least not by puny humans. We all still try. We strive to understand. We define truth through what we perceive. I started to wonder about the Genesis account. Seven days! What's up with that. Oh, I know about the compressed time symbology, and I know that my feeble mind can't perceive God's majesty, but Seven Days? The signs around here say the canyon was carved in six billion years, which by simple math is 6,000,000,000 years X 365 days =219,000,000,000 days. Now I know our Lord is patient, but holy moly. No wonder philosophers talk in circles. The Havasupai Indians have lived in this area for over 8 centuries. They survived by hunting and gathering for centuries before the rush of white entrepreneurs invaded. Somewhere around 1908, Theodore Roosevelt met with the tribe elders in Indian Gardens and informed them that they would have to leave because the place was becoming a park. The Havasupai were forced out sometime after February 26, 1919 when the Grand Canyon received its National Park designation. The tribe sought justice in terms of getting some of its ancestral lands back. In the seventies they won a court case that returned 185,000 acres plus some extra shared use land with the federal government. Now, back to God for a moment. I'm one who believes that God has a plan and that things turn out as they are supposed to and that He is all knowing, and that He promises eternal life to those who follow. But I do wonder (God gave me the power of reason) at injustice. I do wonder at suffering. I do wonder how long any one group must wander in the wilderness. I also wonder how long it will be that those in power will be allowed to exploit the weak and the disenfranchised. I also wonder whose God is in charge. The Havasupai believed that before there were any people on earth there were two gods: Tochapa of goodness and Hokomata of evil. Tochapa had a daughter (Pukekuh) who he hoped would become mother of all living. Hokomata determined not to allow this, so he covered the world with a great flood. Tochapa, to save his daughter, felled a great tree, hollowed it out, and placed her inside so she was secure. Finally, the flood waters receded. Pukekuh came forth under a great sun, gave birth to a daughter whom she called Havsupai. The daughter multiplied and lived in great peace for at least eight centuries. One thing for sure. Regardless of whose god is in charge, we do have beauty in the world, and we do have evil. Like Pukekuh, I'm voting for the great peace (and maybe a little justice). Like I said yesterday. This place lends itself to the metaphysical. Don't even get me started on the notion that half the world has never heard of Jesus Christ. No matter. I have, and I continue to believe patiently and presently that life is good, especially today.
We try our best to capture the truth around us.
The experience is best shared.
Understanding often seems quite far in the distance.
Sometimes it's too close to see.
Regardless, humanity stretches itself to the very precipice.
In God's good time, we'll be folded and melted into a form He desires.
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